Sean Ebony Coleman looks back on yesterday to explain Destination Tomorrow’s work today.
Coleman recalled the care his mom received after her HIV diagnosis back in the 1990s, compared to the treatment for his peers in the House and Ballroom scene—a Black- and brown-led LGBTQ+ subculture—who were dying from the virus at disproportionate rates.
Those experiences led the Brooklynite to get involved with local HIV programs, but he realized there were major gaps in the services provided, especially in the outer boroughs.
“A lot of LGBTQ services were centralized in Manhattan, and the services that were in those outer boroughs were not provided by folks that look like the people that lived among those boroughs and received services,” said Coleman. “I thought we were doing ourselves a disservice by not allowing the folks who had the lived experiences to open and manage those types of services.
“So I started my own.”
Fast-forward to today: Coleman serves as founder and executive director of Destination Tomorrow. The organization offers LGBTQ+ specific services in the Bronx, ranging from youth services to HIV testing. Its housing program provides shelter for up to 90 days to transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary (TGNC/NB) adults experiencing gender-based violence or participating in sex work.
Destination Tomorrow is expanding nationwide, including an Atlanta office, but Coleman sees the northernmost borough as his homebase.
“When we first came up here, folks were like ‘Oh, you’re going to open a queer service in the Bronx? They’re homophobic and they’re this…’ [but] we’ve never had any incident of any kind of violence or harassment or any of those things toward staff or clients,” he said. “It’s actually been the opposite. Our neighbors have actually looked out for us. The grocery store across the street donates hotdogs and hamburgers when we do our cookout. We are now a fixture in the borough.
“I love the Bronx. I love the elected officials. They [asked] ‘What can we do? How can we help?’ because they didn’’t want that stain or that stigma about the Bronx not being welcoming to LGBTQ+ community members. This is my home—don’t tell my friends in Brooklyn I said that.”
Coleman maintains that community input for LGBTQ+ services is critical for culturally competent care. Destination Tomorrow staff are often former clients who feel safe and welcomed during services and want to pay it forward.
Beyond Destination Tomorrow, Coleman spends his free time smoking cigars, playing fantasy football, and forgetting his daughter’s age. Just regular dad stuff—that somehow feels like an act of resistance.
“I want folks to recognize [that] 99.9% of trans folks—we’re just like you,” he said, laughing. “I pay taxes, I talk trash on Instagram and Facebook. I do all of the same things that everybody else does.”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.